Fuel efficiency takes to the stand

The biggest story of the Brisbane Truck Show wasn’t a new model truck or trailer storage system — it was a series of customer quotes emblazoned across the Mercedes-Benz stand and various Actros truck models highlighting a remarkable fuel- efficiency story.

The comments by experienced operators didn’t just allude to fuel savings but identified hard-nosed data from real-time commercial operations.

Importantly, the operators were prepared to be quoted, lending an independence of authority to Benz’s fuel claims that was hard to ignore.

Glenn Brown of CTI Logistics put it plainly: “We are seeing a 25 per cent improvement in fuel economy.”

At Victorian Freight Specialists, Chris Collins added: “The new Mercedes- Benz (Actros) was achieving close to half a kilometre per litre better fuel economy than the American truck it replaced.”

ABS Transport’s Terry Warn claimed: “Replacing the older trucks with Actros models will save the company over $25,000 a month.”

Finally, Shane Blakeborough of Transtex Transport — a deadly serious Kenworth devotee — told Mercedes-Benz he expected to see “a return saving of around $40,000 a year, per truck”.

Camera IconAt the Brisbane Truck Show the biggest story was a series of customer quotes to do with fuel-efficiency emblazoned on Actros trucks and their stand.

Savings of this magnitude signal a sea change in engine technology. Everyone is chasing a cheaper fuel bill, and many marginal changes to operations and driver activity combine to deliver a better bottom line to transport companies.

But tens of thousands of dollars kind of grabs your attention and, as is the case with Transtex Transport, puts a high price on brand loyalty.

I’ve driven several versions of the new Merc range with varying loads.

Fuel performance in these tests is at best only an indicator, as the profile of the drive rarely matches a true commercial task.

But the engine has always impressed with smoothness and unusual quiet, indicating a lot of engineering work in tailoring the driveline to application.

Technical enhancements to the driveline are focused on keeping engine revs as low as possible, coasting where safe and appropriate and using the broadest possible range of the torque band to maintain momentum.

However, that kind of engine management can only tweak fuel economy to a limited extent.

The kind of savings these users are reporting indicates there have been some major developments in the combustion process, either through head profile, piston architecture or metallurgical advances that have slashed friction.

The injection system has also been under the microscope of Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ best engineers, boosting injection pressures sky-high and optimising a complete fuel burn, releasing the maximum amount of energy for each charge.

The new Actros has generated similar sentiments and head scratching across industry sectors where the evaluation trucks have been tested.

So much so, these kinds of numbers need to be seen in the context of net returns.

For example, to improve the cash in hand of a transport company owner by a net $20,000 there needs to be an increase in pre-tax revenue of over $28,000 — assuming a company tax rate of 30 per cent — with no increase in costs.

That takes a lot of work and probably some lucky timing. Or, according to Mercedes- Benz, you can just buy an Actros.

A MIDWEEK TRUCK STOP

Check WestWHEELS this Wednesday when we start our new midweek Work Wheels section.